MOSCOW, March 18. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian ruble rate grew against both US dollar and the European single currency at Tuesday’s unified trading session on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) against the background of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special address to the Federal Assembly.

Thus, the euro rate against the Russian ruble dropped by seven kopecks as of 16:10 Moscow time on Tuesday, as compared to the closing point of the preceding trading session on Monday, and made up 50.48 ruble. As for the US dollar, its exchange rate went down by eight kopecks to 36.25 rubles.

Herewith, the Russian national currency strengthened by 22 kopecks against the US dollar and by 25 kopecks against the European single currency, as compared to the levels registered on the MICEX before the start of the president’s address as of 15.00 Moscow time.

Moreover, the address of the head of state also stepped up the growth of Russia’s stock indices on the MICEX. Thus, the MICEX index went up by 2.31% to 1,313.32 points, the RTS index grew by 2.07% to 1,137.75 points as of 15.55 Moscow time. Meanwhile, the Russian stock market started Tuesday’s trading session with a moderate growth of about 0.5%.